Kathryn Joosten Quotes

The word 'cancer' carries with it enormous fear, fear for the future, fear for family.

When the doctor told me I had cancer, I was scared.

I realized not long ago that by the time I leave this Earth, no matter when it is I will have officially only spent approximately 14 years of my life where I did not have to deal with cancer.

I have been unexpectedly confronted with my own mortality as I was told that I had cancer.

You hear the word 'cancer,' and you think it is a death sentence. In fact, the shock is the biggest thing about a diagnosis of cancer.

I knew I heard the doctor correctly. I didn't think he said something else, I didn't think for a second, 'Well maybe he didn't say it.' No, I knew I heard him! But I still couldn't comprehend... in my mind... in my soul... he just said, 'cancer.'

When they tell you that you have cancer, you panic.

My illness is excruciating and difficult to cope with. It takes over your entire life and causes more suffering than I can describe.

I'm not sure anyone goes through a cancer scare unchanged. I know it changed me in so many ways. But I was fortunate to have had a rare cancer that's slow-growing and one that allowed me to skip the chemical cocktails that would have put me into early menopause.

I don't want fear or cancer to define me, but it's always in the back of your mind.

'Cancer' is such a frightening word.

The type of leukemia that I am dealing with is treatable. So if I do what my doctors tell me to do - get my blood checked regularly, take my meds and consult with my doctor and follow any additional instructions he might make - I will be able to maintain my good health and live my life with a minimum of disruptions to my lifestyle.

In the beginning, when I first found out I had a disease that was incurable, emotionally I had to get used to the idea of being sick before I could think about making any other major decisions in my life.

Having cancer is a lonely experience. It is the one time in your life that you cannot ask those closest to you, 'What should I do?' It's too heavy a burden to place on another person. This is your life, your decision, and cancer kills.

When I was in college, I had a fear of cancer.

Anybody who has cancer, they take it one day at a time.

Being diagnosed with cancer is terrifying.

Cancer has affected my family; my mother and father have battled cancer. I know how tough it is.

I'm very fortunate to have gotten past the cancer problem.

Cancer is just one little word but, when you hear it, it turns your whole life upside down.

When you have cancer, you can define the trivial from the important very quickly.

I'm happy to tell you that having been through surgery and chemotherapy and radiation, breast cancer is officially behind me. I feel absolutely great and I am raring to go.

Some people say you have to fight cancer. But it was fighting me. The cure was worse than the disease, and it left me totally exhausted and depressed. I just hid myself away in my daughter-in-law's flat.

Just learning that you have MS is such a devastating shock.

With Alexander's cancer, I was definitely brought to my knees for the first time because of the fear factor.